BKK Post, 27 February. Burma. Japan

[burma@xxxxxxxxxx]

27 February. Burma

Japan set to renew loans, says report
FM denise anny plan to help fix airport 
Tokyo, AP

Japan  is planning to provide 2.5 billion yen(877million baht) to Burma in offical aid, the first since such assistance was suspended following the 1998 military crackdown on the 
prodemocracy movement, Japanese newspapers report yesterday.
  The money will be in low-interest official development assistance to help repair a dilapidated runway at Rangoon's international airport, the Asahi and Nihon Keizai report,
quoting unidentified government sources.
  The resumption would be  based on an early 1980s agreement between the two countries
calling for Japan to provide 27 billion yen for the airport project.
  Japan suspended the rest of the loans following the crackdown after having already extended four billion yen.
  A foreign ministry spokesman denied the report. the government acknowledges the need
for the airport repairs, he said, but has no immediate plans to help Burma resume the project on a full-scale basis.
  Resuming such assistance could stir opposition from Burmese pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi and Western nations which have been calling for stricter economic sanctions against Burma because of its human rights record.
  The loan, however, is meant to be an emergency step to inprove the safety of the airport,
and its provision would not lead to a full-fledged resumption of government loans to Burma's military junta, Kyodo News Agency reported.
  A Japanese airline currently flying into the airport has complained to its government that
the runway is in bad shape, Kyodo report, again quoting a ministry official.
  The Nihon Keizai said the step is also aimed at strengthening ties with Burma. 
  The reports come only two days after Japan signed an agreement with Burma to write off two billion yen in debt. Japan has granted such relief since 1988, with the total amount now more than 40 billion yen.